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By Kenny MacDonald
GLASGOW, March 18 - Champions Celtic slipped to a
1-0 defeat at Falkirk on Sunday in a Scottish Premier League
encounter which featured two red cards.
Celtic's Craig Beattie missed a penalty after six minutes
and seventh-placed Falkirk made the visitors pay when Steven
Thomson scored with a header 10 minutes later.
The match boiled over seven minutes before the interval when
Celtic's Stephen McManus squared up to Carl Finnigan of Falkirk
outside the penalty box.
McManus hauled down Finnigan who then appeared to elbow the
defender as they tangled on the ground, referee John Underhill
sending off both players.
Leaders Celtic have 74 points from 31 matches. Rangers are
second on 61 after their 3-0 win over Aberdeen on Saturday.
"I am disappointed to lose the three points but I am not
disappointed we created chances," Celtic manager Gordon Strachan
told BBC Radio.
"Our defending was good but we didn't take our chances and
one or two decisions didn't go our way."
Falkirk manager John Hughes said: "We rode our luck a bit.
It's about time things went our way."